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Eben-Emael Fort Belgium

hicky1300

hicky1300

Well-Known Member
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Hi Gents
Well I finally managed to get to go to see the Fort at Eben-Emael!
Dragged myslef with my post St Pads day & Six Nations Rugby hangover the 50 miles to see this place.
Unfortunately it was not open to visitors to go inside but I did get to walk around all of it outside & took a few pics until camera ran out of charge!!
Very interesting place & HUGE!! there`s over 5 kilometers of rooms & tunnels underground connecting all the gun pits, pillboxes & bunkers!
Pic 1. View to the large howitzer cupola/turret in the approximate centrre of the site. the German gliders landed around this.
2 & 4. Shaped charge damage to the top of a gun turret. Looks like the germans haddn`t done their homework/enough testing as the shaped charges could not penetrate these as they are cast steel!
3. `Burst` gun barrel. I assume these were put out of commision by the Germans by putting a charge in the end?
6 & 5. Large gun pillbox. All of these had very visible evidence of the battle. The surrounds & barrels were marked by bullets & shrapnel.
7 & 8. Noticed all the barrels were damaged. These 2 looked as though a projectile had hit the barrel, therby bending or deforming it. Others (sorry no pics - yet) Has obvious bulges that I assume are from a charge being detonated in the barrel. I wonder if this happened during the battle or afterwards? Or indeed sometime after the war by the authorities in order to render the guns useless?
Afraid no pics of the shaped charge penetrations on the concrete.
I plan to go back & do the underground tour so hopefully will have charged the camera!
 
Thanks for the pictures Hicky ,picture 4 is interesting ,i was told the cross pattern is the imprint of the camoflage net that was in place when the Germans detonated the shaped charge,also the Germans detonated a second shaped charge in the craters caused by the first ones in an attempt to breach the cupolas in some places
 
Setting off one in steel must have been dangerous enough to the Germans themselves - let alone having another go!!
Poor old Belgians inside their ears must have been bleeding!!
 
Those soldiers inside must have had serious headaches !The Germans used 2 types of Hohlladung [hollow charge ] a 12.5Kg that penetrated 76mm of armoured plate and a 50 Kg version that came in 2 parts and could penetrate 250mm.Try to get hold of Tim Saunders book Fort Eben Emael [Pen & Sword ,2005 ] the most detailed account with plenty of pictures ive read so far
 
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